A woman who secretly married one of the richest men in the world fears she and her six-year-old son face destitution because of plans to deport her from Britain.
Ms El Gamal, who was born into a wealthy and influential Egyptian family, met Sheik Ahmed, 56, in Dubai in 2004.
She recalls: 'I was having lunch with a girlfriend at the Emirates Towers Hotel. Ahmed was at the next table with some friends and struck up a conversation with us.
'He said he was a businessman and took my phone number before we parted. About 20 minutes later, he called me and asked if my friend and I would join him for dinner that night.
'I said yes because I thought he might be a potential client for my interior design business. I honestly didn't know who he was.'
A month after she returned to London, he flew to the capital in his private jet and set about wooing her.
'I had never before felt so attracted to anyone,' she recalls. 'I was enthralled by him. I adored him. I felt in my heart that we were meant to be together.
'He would wake me up with a cup of espresso every morning and even have my toothbrush ready with toothpaste.
'We spent most of our time at his flat in Knightsbridge or on his yacht in Dubai, because he's a very private person.'
She basked in the pampered lifestyle afforded by her billionaire lover, who showered her with gifts, including money for a Bentley. 'He loved to surprise me with presents, including a diamond-encrusted Bulgari watch, jewellery, designer bags and couture dresses,' Ms El Gamal said.
'I have a Louis Vuitton crocodile bag that I don't think anyone else in the world has got.'
She says Sheik Ahmed proposed in 2006. He gave her a £30,000 dowry, as well as money to buy a gold ring with 17 diamonds.
Then, in 2007 they took part in a secret Muslim marriage ceremony in his Knightsbridge apartment. He arranged a secret urfi – a traditional form of Islamic marriage officiated by an imam.
Two male assistants acted as witnesses. There were no other guests. 'I agreed to all the secrecy because, as a senior royal, he was not allowed to marry someone from outside his country, especially as his first wife,' Ms El Gamal says.
'He promised that after a while we would make it public.'
But she was stunned when things began to fall apart after she announced she was pregnant. And after Saeed was born in Los Angeles, in April 2008, the sheik married his cousin. 'I never dreamed he would dump me this way,' Ms El Gamal said.
But there was more bad news. When Saeed was two, doctors discovered that he was suffering from Mannose-binding lectin deficiency, a condition that affects the immune system. Sufferers are prone to recurrent infections of the upper respiratory tract.
After winning her battle to prove paternity and for maintenance, last week Ms El Gamal, was back in court again, appealing against the deportation order.
It is understood she gets £15,000 a month under her financial arrangement with Sheik Ahmed, and she said: 'I'm self-financing and don't cost the country a penny – not even for health care.
'My funding is guaranteed by my ex-husband until our son is 21, so it's not as if I am a burden on the state. Saeed's father pays his medical bills too. Ahmed can ignore me and move on, but to not want to know your only child is beyond me.'
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